


Just Human

by mad_top_hatter



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic, nothing too heavy, shiro centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-24 09:10:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7502553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mad_top_hatter/pseuds/mad_top_hatter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being the leader of the universe's only hope is a daunting title, but one Shiro holds respectfully and happily. However, sometimes Shiro needs help himself from the situations that arise from being in such a position.</p><p>Because before being the decisive head of Voltron, he is Takashi Shirogane--a human.<br/>*</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Human

**Author's Note:**

> Shiro's not feeling his best, but he doesn't find that a reasonable excuse to miss training.
> 
> No warnings apply to this chapter, just a sickfic with some slight angst/comfort and platonic team relationships.

Growing up, one thing Shiro had realized was that he had a rather strong immune system. While he'd still catch the common cold every now and then, he could only recall one time he had been incapacitated by an illness.

So, when Shiro awoke that morning clouded by a sensation that brought him back to such a time, he could only imagine what his day would entail.

Shiro never felt superb upon waking, not with nightmares that frequently beleaguered his unconscious mind to the extent where the line between reality and dreams was blurred for a few moments after he opened his eyes. It took a count of four deep breaths and some quick glances around the room before the nightmare became a fleeting memory.

No, rejuvenation was not a blessing Shiro felt when his eyes darted open, yet that morning, the missing sensation had not been caused by horrid images plaguing his mind.

He was sick.

There was pressure within his nose, and breathing through it caused him discomfort. Switching to breathing through his mouth was not much better--his throat felt raw and scratchy.

Moreover, his entire body felt heavier, as if it was coaxing him to stay put in his bed. Shiro almost complied to his body's wishes, but the various responsibilities that he held compelled him to reconsider

Defenders of the universe--that was the name him and other paladins had donned. He hadn't earned that title from living leisurely.

Slowly, Shiro lifted himself out of bed, mentally berating himself for moving too quickly and having all his blood rush to his feet. He grabbed onto a nearby surface to steady himself until his blurry vision settled itself, though the nausea persisted.

Great, he thought to himself, this will be a fun day.

Joining up with the other paladins later that morning for breakfast should have put Shiro in high spirits, keyword: should have.

He greeted Pidge and Hunk when he arrived, trying to follow his regular routine to keep up his facade. Truthfully, he didn't feel that bad once he was sitting, it was the standing up part--his legs would feel weak and wobbly, threatening to collapse beneath him.

So, Shiro took a seat after grabbing a plate of food goo--maybe his ailments were hunger-related, he hadn't eaten much the previous night--feeling a smidge better in the company of others.

That was until both Keith and Lance entered.

Keith had entered first, and Shiro was about to greet him before noticing the sour look on the other teen's face. Right behind him was an equally cross Lance.

"I know you took them, so just give them back," grumbled Lance, prompting Keith to roll his eyes.

"If I took them, it would be to throw them in the trash where they belong."

Lance scoffed and got closer to Keith, trying to make himself look imposing. "Yeah, you say that, but you know what I think? You took them cause you were jealous you didn't have your own red lion slippers. It's fine, just admit it. I'll forgive you."

Shiro slapped his hand to his forehead exasperatedly once he realized the situation. The blue lion slippers that Lance wore from time to time--that was what their argument was about?

"Why would I the blue lion slippers when I pilot the red lion?! That's just ... stupid!"

Lance backed away from his rival with a scowl on his face to turn to the other three paladins. Shiro still had his hand clasped to his face out of annoyance and Hunk immediately broke eye contact with Lance, leaving only Pidge left.

"Pidge, do you-"

"Well, I'm heading back to my room," announced Pidge and left the dining area without a moment of hesitation.

"What the heck, you traitor!"

"Lance," sighed Shiro, trying to prevent a headache from adding to his list of nuisances, "go check your room for them, I'm sure Keith didn't steal them."

Lance opened his mouth for a rebuttal but zipped it shut when Shiro gave him an authoritative glare, and the teen nervously nodded before quickly walking back out of the dining area.

Shiro sank into his chair out of relief but then excused himself after downing a few pieces of food goo. He had thought getting some food in his stomach would improve how he felt, but it only worsened his nausea.

\---

Shiro had been able to rest a bit in his quarters later that day until Allura's voice echoed throughout the castle.

"Alright paladins, report to the training area immediately!"

Shiro frowned at the message--the training sequences had been messing up recently. The maze to build trust would repeatedly fade in and out, and the gladiator wouldn't even appear to fight. Had it been fixed?  
He came to the conclusion that is most likely had been repaired, and Allura and Coran wanted to run a diagnostics test on it. There were no better guinea pigs than the five paladins for such a test. 

After resting for a bit, the black paladin felt admittedly better despite the fleeting sensation of nausea that came when he stood up. It soon passed, and while he still felt ill, it was an improvement compared to before when he was on his feet. He was able to get suited up without toppling over, and that was a good enough indicator to reassure Shiro that he was fine. It was just training, after all. 

When he got to the training bay, he noticed he was the first one there besides Coran and Allura, and both had their attention fixated to the various panels controlling the different training exercises. The other paladins arrived soon afterwards, and Shiro noted the space between Keith and Lance, the latter with an embarrassed, yet still angered look on his face. He briefly wondered if Lance had found the slippers--they had most likely been under his bed--but then for the sake everyone's well-being, he decided not to bring it up. Instead, he directed his attention back on Allura and Coran. 

"That was rather quick, paladins," started Allura with a smile, "As you know, the various training exercises had been previously messing up, but luckily, I believe Coran has solved the issues." 

"The 'Coranic' wasn't a joke, ya' know. Anyway, I messed with the control panel a bit 'cause it kept shorting out, and if all goes well, it will run like it should," added Coran. Shiro opened his mouth to say to go ahead and run it, but was cut off by Keith. 

"And if it doesn't go well? I'd rather not have another robot trying to kill me like last time." 

With a feigned sympathetic look, Coran rested his hand on Keith's shoulder and tilted his slightly. "Only one way to find out." 

Coran and Allura both retreated back to the control panel, and before another word could be said, not one but three gladiators appeared to fight them. Immediately, they encircled the five paladins. Shiro readied himself for an attack, his right hand gave off a purple glow while the rest of the paladins activated their bayards. 

"Hey Coran!" yelled Lance, his eyes still fixated to the enemies around him, "I think it's still broken!" 

Shiro made the first move, trying to get himself and the rest of his team out of the enclosing circle. His hand swung dangerously close to the neck of one of the robots, prompting the gladiator to jump back. Pidge directed their bayard towards the other gladiator, aiming for the leg. A flash of green knocked the robot off its balance, and Pidge ducked out of the way to make room for Keith, who leaped overhead with his sword drawn. The gladiator rolled out of the way only to be met at the end of Lance's bayard. 

With one robot down, Pidge and Keith focused on the second one. It was more agile than the former, Pidge was unable to knock them off balance with their bayard. Shiro saw the fighting happening in the corner of his eyes as he faced the other robot with Lance and Hunk. 

"Good teamwork, paladins! If you always work seamlessly together like this, just imagine what you all can do!" exclaimed Allura. 

"Yeah, if these gladiators don't take us down first. Seriously, these guys are way more difficult than normal!" yelled Hunk as he dodged the gladiator Keith and Pidge were targeting. "Also, why three of them at once?!" 

"Yes, well, it seems that there is still some necessary tweaking, but at least the program is working. Also, this is good preparation! All of you must be ready in the event that you are facing more than one enemy--the Galra won't be courteous and send out their soldiers one at a time!" replied Coran. Hunk scowled at the reply as he failed once again to hit he gladiator. In fact, the last two gladiators hadn't been hit at all. 

"That's a fair point and all," said Pidge between breaths as they tried once again to trip the gladiator to no avail, "but ... we can't even hit these last two! This is going to go on until we get exhausted!" 

"Well, then perhaps you should improve," replied Coran with a lack of concern. "If what you are currently doing isn't working, then change it up!" 

Shiro was fine with changing it up. The excessive movement he was doing was making him feel worse, and he could feel himself getting slow and his attacks getting sloppy. His legs felt strained and heavy. Hunk and Lance currently had the gladiator he was facing on its toes, allowing Shiro to take in his environment. 

Suddenly, realization hit him and he felt foolish for not noticing such a glaring weakness before. No, all of them had been so caught up in the unexpected situation they had forgotten how to fight with anything but their bayards. He waited for Pidge to swing their bayard again, and when he saw the green weapon fly through the air at the gladiator, Shiro made his move. As anticipated, the gladiator dodged the bayard with ease, jumping back to get out of its range. And when the gladiator touched the ground, glowing purple went through gray. The gladiator collapsed weightlessly when Shiro removed his hand from its gray torso. Pidge and Keith stopped in their tracks and stared at Shiro, who was catching his breath. 

"It seemed like it only wanted to focus on the same targets--you two. By doing that, it was able to dodge any attack by either of you, but at that cost it ignored everything else. I should have noticed earlier, when it almost collided with Hunk--it would have ran into him if he hadn't moved," huffed Shiro. Thinking of the yellow paladin, Shiro turned to see how Hunk and Lance were faring. They both seemed tired out, but were still relentlessly attacking the final gladiator, oblivious to the demise of the previous robot. "Pidge, I think you know what I'm going to say," said Shiro, directing his gaze to the paladin's bayard. 

For a moment, a befuddled look resided on their face, but then a playful smile replaced it. 

"Oh, you have no idea how much I want to knock down a gladiator right now," they replied. The green bayard dashed through the air and circled around the leg of the last remaining gladiator, and before the gladiator could worry less about its targets and more about itself, Pidge pulled back the bayard, sending the gladiator tumbling to the ground. Hunk, who was closest, gratefully carried out the finishing blow. 

\---

The five paladins sat on the ground of the training bay once the area was clear of robots, all trying to catch their breath. Shiro wiped beads of sweat from his forehead, then looked at his hand. The sight of his fingers was blurry, causing him to strain his eyes to fix his vision. Adrenaline had been pumping in his veins during the fight, though he still dully noted the lingering feeling of sickness. 

With the fight over, there was nothing to distract him. He felt worst than he did that morning--at least earlier, sitting down relieved him of his symptoms. Currently, even sitting, his stomach felt like it was in knots and it felt like his upper-body was on fire. The five of them were waiting for Coran and Allura to come and join them, but Shiro needed to get back to his quarters and rest. After a battle like that, no one would be suspicious of him retiring back to his quarters, but if he left at the current moment, he knew that the other paladins would be skeptical. It's not like Shiro's invincible, or that he thinks he is. He was aware that the other paladins knew he got tired out as well, but he'd rather them not know he was feeling ill. He couldn't explain why he felt the need to be secretive about it--maybe because it was just easier to not tell anyone. Having other's worry about him was nice in a sense. It showed that they cared about Shiro's well-being, but while he appreciated the sentiment, it also made him feel vulnerable. Shiro was their leader, wasn't he? He was supposed to be the strong pillar that held up the team.

If he had weaknesses, he couldn't show them. So, after Allura and Coran commended the paladin's for their work, Shiro headed for the exit along with the rest of his team, determined to head straight to his room and sleep off his cold or whatever it was that was weighing him down. 

His body seemed to have other plans. 

With the paladins ahead of him, none of them noticed the way Shiro's legs wobbled when he stood up. With no wall nearby to support him, he stumbled towards the exit, his vision slowly blurring into one color. He could hear the sounds of Coran and Allura conversing behind him, as well as the victorious remarks that came from the celebrating paladins ahead of him. Shiro blacked out before he could hear the sound of his body colliding into the ground. 

\---

Consciousness came slowly to Shiro--first he heard indecipherable noises that initially hurt his ears. His eyes felt heavy and he couldn't conjure up the energy to force them open, so he instead just listened as the noises around him gained clarity. 

"--wrong with him?" 

"--fever, his forehead--" 

"--earlier, he was fine." 

"I think he's waking up," said the last and most clear voice. Shiro recognized it as Pidge's voice, and when his eyes slowly opened, he saw not only them, but the rest of the paladins at the side of his bed.

Wait, his bed?

"What happened?" he murmured. The words came out less clear than he had wanted, but he hoped it was coherent enough to warrant an answer.

"That's what we would like to know!" said Lance, the volume of his voice earned him a harsh elbow jab from Pidge. With a softer voice, the teen continued. "We finished training and were about to leave when you collapsed."

Shiro went to sit up--to reassure all of them that nothing was wrong--when something slid down his forehead and fell into his lap. When he picked it up, he realized it was a cold rag.

"I mean, most of us came to the conclusion that you were sick," said Pidge, "since your forehead was so hot and other factors. But even so, we were still confused and worried. We still are."

Shiro only stared at them, unaware of what to do. It wasn't like he could say he felt fine after collapsing in front of all of them, but he didn't want to tell them the truth either. The concerned-ridden faces that surrounded him would make him feel guilty if he lied. 

"I'm sorry to have scared you all," Shiro began slowly, "I've been feeling sick since this morning."

"Since this morning?" asked Keith with disbelief. "Why were you at training, then? You should have been resting."

"I know!" snapped Shiro, and he immediately winced from his own harsh tone. "I'm sorry. I know I should have, I just ... I didn't want to seem weak."

The last words of his sentence came out barely audible, but audible enough. He simultaneously felt regret and relief at the spillage of his words. 

"Dude, didn't you rip one of those gladiators in half earlier when you were feeling bad? How the heck could anyone view you as weak?!" exclaimed Lance.

The sudden, unrefined outburst stunned Shiro momentarily before he broke out into laughter. 

"Even so, I don't think it's bad to have weaknesses," began Hunk. "Even if all of us have a weakness, doesn't that give us more of a reason to stay with each other? I mean, we form Voltron 'cause alone we can't do very much."

Shiro gave a soft smile that. The reassurance of his team shook away most of his negativity, though one thought stayed with him. "Thank you for your words, but ... I'm also supposed to be the head of Voltron. Am I ... am I allowed to show weakness in that sort of position?"

"Yeah, you're the head of Voltron, but don't forget that we are the arms and legs," said Pidge softly. "We'll be there to support you, and we'll hold you up and punch things for you. Lance will definitely kick things for you."

"Don't let Lance kick anything," snapped Keith, "unless we want Voltron to take a dive in the middle of the battlefield."

"Mind you, I'm in total synchronization with my lion so that I can control my kicks!"

"Really? When did that connection happen?"

Before Shiro could reprimand the two of them, Pidge and Hunk separated the two rivals as if they had read the mind of their leader and pushed them towards the door. The red and blue paladin were still bickering even after being shoved outside.

"Well, Allura told us to get her once you woke up. I think she said Coran was making some weird Altean food that would make you feel better," said Pidge at the doorway. Shiro inwardly winced at the thought of food goo, but still felt a surge of warmth in his heart at the caring gesture.

"Oh, I can't wait," said Shiro genuinely. "I think I'll try to get some more shut-eye before then."

"Alright, Shiro. Feel better, alright?" said Pidge as they went to head out the room.

"I'll do my best, Pidge," replied Shiro with a soft smile before Pidge left the room. Currently by himself, Shiro closed his eyes and tried to drift off to sleep, but all he could do was think about how he already felt much better.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for this corny shit lol i love shiro so much imcrying 
> 
> for anyone that wants to follow me on tumblr (i post voltron and other stuff) , I'm mad-top-hatter. It's the same as this username except with dashes instead.


End file.
